Publications

The Regence Health Policy Center will build on Cambia Grove's connections and shared knowledge to advance policies that address and solve the emerging challenges facing our health care system.

Home-based care models deliver a broad range of health care services to patients within the context of their living arrangement thus removing the limitation to only provide services in the traditional brick and mortar setting. After exploring several home-based care models, we identified 5 policy recommendations that will advance the adoption of these health care models.

Greater adoption of biosimilars is one path to driving down drug costs in the United States. Effectively increasing uptake will require collaboration between all segments of the health care system. Regence health plans are leading the industry in biosimilars utilization with 95 percent adoption, thus reducing specialty drug spend by $30 million since 2019.

With the cost of prescription drugs on the rise, specialty drugs that treat the most severe conditions and illnesses are no exception. We explore the importance of cost control strategies to acquire specialty drugs and how some health care providers are aiming to remove these strategies to increase their revenue margins.

The RHPC team sponsored and attended the 2022 Oregon State of Reform Health Policy Conference, bringing together stakeholders from across the region to discuss the most important topics facing the state.

Copay coupons—the solution for the unreasonable cost of specialty medications or a carefully crafted trojan horse disrupting affordability in our health care system?

In 2018, Oregon passed a law creating the Oregon Prescription Drug Price Transparency program. The program has been able to provide policymakers, consumers and stakeholders across healthcare with information about the one of the most complicated areas in health care- pharmaceuticals. We spoke with Oregon DCBS Director, Andrew Stolfi, to discuss the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Program and the newly created Prescription Drug Affordability Board.

We are living in a new “golden age” of prescription drug innovation. Over the last several years, advancements in biologics, as well as the development of cell and gene therapies offer tremendous promise for extending people’s quality of life and even curing debilitating diseases. The downside is that these are among the most expensive drug therapies on the market with more to come.

How does the Inflation Reduction Act affect Medicare prescription drug prices? In this article, we discuss how the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will make historic changes to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, prescription drug pricing.

Last week, the RHPC team sponsored and attended NASHP's 35th Annual Conference held in Seattle, WA. After the event convened over 750 policymakers across the country, we discuss the three themes that emerged from the conference.

In Idaho, more than 300,000 Idahoans are without access to a wired connection capable of 25 mbps download speeds. The Imagine Idaho Coalition is gathering leaders from across the state to advocate and advance broadband infrastructure in rural communtities.

One hundred years ago, it was common for doctors to visit patients at home. Over time, house calls and other forms of home-based care became less popular as patients increasingly received care in hospitals and other institutional settings. While most care now takes place in medical facilities, in recent years there has been a resurgence in home-based care as a convenient and cost-effective way to provide treatment for patients.

The Regence Health Policy Center (RHPC) strongly supports policies to increase patient access to home-based care (HBC) services, and we have highlighted the numerous positive impacts that HBC can have on patients. However, we also recognize that there are circumstances where home-based care may not be the best choice and it is more appropriate to treat a patient in a facility-based setting.

Child and adolescent mental health has continued to worsen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. For youth and their families, navigating mental health challenges, access to care and the cost of receiving care can be prohibitive factors. When youth experience severe behavioral health needs and require more intensive treatment, the barriers only increase. Regence Health Policy Center spoke with Andree Miceli, LCSW, Behavioral Health Clinical Director at Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Amanda Escobedo, Director of Operations at Empowerment Counseling Services, to learn more about options for one model of providing treatment in the home and the potential it has to lower costs and improve outcomes and quality of life for youth and their families.

In part two of our interview, Dr. Kathi Mooeny explores her vision for home-based cancer care, the obstacles that may prevent adoption of these services and technological improvements to further advance home care.

Part two of our conversation with DispatchHealth interviews one of the founders who started it all in 2013. Kevin Riddleberger, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, discusses how Dispatch is navigating the current workforce challenges the industry is experiencing as well as the policies that need to be enacted to promote further adoption of home-based care models.

Chronic kidney disease affects more than one in seven American adults or about 37 million people. Continuing our series on moving care into a patient’s home, we spoke with Alice Wei, M.D. and Senior Medical Director of Dialysis at Strive Health, to learn more about their unique care model as well as how providing care in a patient’s home environment is prime to support whole-person care.

Part one of our interview with DispatchHealth's Chief Development Officer, Jennifer Meyer, discusses how their unique platform is improving patient experiences, lowering health care costs and addressing health equity to serve communities that have been historically underserved. 

One of the constructive legacies from the COVID-19 pandemic is the historic improvement in the number of Americans with health insurance. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) made critical investments to make health insurance more affordable for people seeking coverage outside the workplace. However, without swift Congressional action, this legacy could be lost. Congress must renew the temporary subsidies that lowered health care costs and made Marketplace coverage more accessible for millions of Americans

Continuing our Care at Home Series, we interviewed American Scientist, Co-Leader of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Distinguished Professor in the College of Nursing for the University of Utah, Dr. Kathi Mooney.

Biosimilars were first approved for use in the United States in 2015. With a growing number of available biosimilar products and a need to decrease the costs associated with prescription drugs, are biosimilars on track to deliver the savings promised? What role do payers and providers play in advancing broader adoption of biosimilars as a safe and effective treatment? Read key takeaways from the virtual discussion and view the recording!